Time Travel, the Outlander TV Series and Its Prequel, Blood of My Blood

This posting is inspired from my recent viewing of Season 1, Blood of My Blood TV Show. Blood of my Blood is a prequel of the long running TV series, The Outlander based on the novel by Diana Gabaldon. The novel blends historical fiction, romance, and science fiction through the device of time travel and unshakable love across centuries. 

---

1. The Allure and Paradox of Time Travel

From the moment humans began to measure time, we’ve also dreamed of escaping it. The ability to journey backward to witness history or forward to glimpse the unknown has fascinated philosophers, scientists, and storytellers for centuries. Time travel remains one of our most powerful metaphors — a symbol of our longing to correct mistakes, relive joys, and understand destiny itself.

Science fiction has shaped our collective imagination of time travel. H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine introduced the idea of a mechanical device capable of flying through the ages. Modern interpretations — from cinematic portals to quantum paradoxes — push the boundaries of physics and moral inquiry. Can we change the past without destroying the future? Or are all moments, past and present, locked into an unalterable loop?

From a scientific standpoint, time travel walks a fine line between theoretical possibility and fantastical speculation. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows for time dilation — where high-speed travel near the speed of light effectively “slows” time for the traveler. Wormholes, or Einstein-Rosen bridges, are another theoretical passageway through spacetime, although their stability remains highly uncertain. In essence, physics doesn’t completely forbid time travel, but it challenges us to confront paradoxes that defy logic.

Beyond equations and fiction, time travel speaks to our emotional truth. We all, in quiet moments, wish to revisit the past — to say a word unsaid, to hold a moment a little longer. Yet, as thinkers from Heraclitus to modern psychologists remind us, time’s flow may be irreversible for a reason. Learning, healing, and meaning emerge precisely because we cannot go back.

Perhaps, then, time travel’s greatest lesson is not in machines or wormholes, but in awareness. Every moment contains fragments of the past and traces of the future. To be fully present — to live consciously in time — might be the closest form of time travel we ever truly experience.

Moreover, 

Scientists Crack the Code to Paradox-Free Time Travel

What if you could travel back in time — and not break the universe?

A groundbreaking study published in Classical and Quantum Gravity suggests exactly that. Physicist Germain Tobar and his co-author Fabio Costa at the University of Queensland have found a mathematical way to make time travel possible without the dreaded paradoxes that have haunted scientists and storytellers for decades.

At the heart of their work lies a concept called Closed Time-like Curves (CTCs) — loops in spacetime predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. These loops could, in theory, allow someone to travel back in time. But the catch has always been the grandfather paradox: if you go back and change the past (say, prevent your grandparents from meeting), how could you exist to make that change in the first place?

Tobar and Costa’s theory introduces a remarkable twist — the universe would self-correct. If a time traveler tried to alter the past, events would subtly adjust to prevent any contradictions.

Example: Suppose you go back to stop Patient Zero from catching COVID-19. You might succeed — but in doing so, you or someone else would become the new Patient Zero. The pandemic would still occur, just in a different way.

This means time might be flexible, but not breakable. The researchers call this a “causal consistency” condition: no matter how much you try to change the past, the outcome will realign to preserve the timeline.

Instead of the chaotic butterfly effect, this model mirrors a monkey’s paw scenario — your choices still matter, but the universe bends them back into balance.

Why It Matters

Provides the first mathematical framework for paradox-free time travel

Suggests spacetime may be inherently self-stabilizing

Could reshape our understanding of cause and effect itself

While time machines remain theoretical for now, this discovery hints that the universe may already have built-in “rules of time” — ensuring that history, no matter how strange, never truly unravels.

The future of time travel? Not rewriting history… but learning to move through it without tearing it apart.

2. The Outlander saga, created by Diana Gabaldon and adapted into a hit television series, blends historical fiction, romance, and science fiction through the device of time travel and unshakable love across centuries.

The Novel Series

Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series begins in 1946 with Claire Beauchamp Randall, a former World War II nurse, who travels with her husband Frank to the Scottish Highlands for a second honeymoon. While exploring the ancient stone circle at Craigh na Dun, Claire touches one of the stones and is mysteriously transported back to 1743, during the Jacobite uprisings. Captured by Highlanders, she meets a brave warrior named Jamie Fraser, with whom she forms an intense bond that grows into a passionate romance.​

Claire’s advanced knowledge of medicine both earns her respect and arouses suspicion in the superstitious 18th-century society. Amid political turmoil, clan rivalries, and danger from Frank’s ancestor, the brutal Captain Jack Randall, Claire struggles to reconcile her love for Jamie with her loyalty to the husband she left behind in the 20th century.​

As the series unfolds over nine novels, Jamie and Claire’s lives intersect with major historical events from Scotland’s Jacobite rebellion to the American Revolution. Through their journeys across continents and time, Gabaldon explores love, loyalty, identity, and the moral complexity of altering history.

The Television Adaptation

The STARZ TV adaptation of Outlander, premiering in 2014, closely follows Gabaldon’s narrative arcs, guided by showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Caitríona Balfe portrays Claire, and Sam Heughan plays Jamie Fraser. The television version preserves the sweeping romantic and historical tone, intermingling Gaelic culture, 18th-century politics, and the visceral consequences of time travel.​

As newer seasons progress, the show broadens its scope beyond Scotland — moving into France, the Caribbean, and colonial America — while retaining its emotional core: the enduring love between two people separated and reunited through time. The visual storytelling intensifies the themes of fate and personal agency, showing both the freedom and entrapment that come with knowing the future.

In both its literary and televised forms, Outlander is less about the mechanics of time travel and more about what it means to live fully — in every time, place, and heartbeat shared between lovers who bridge centuries.

3. The prequel of Outlander is Blood of My Blood.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood is the 2025 prequel to the long-running Outlandertelevision series, created by Matthew B. Roberts and produced by Starz. It recently concluded its first season to critical and fan acclaim.

Setting and Premise

The ten-episode Season 1 of Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiered on August 8, 2025, presenting a dual love story that predates Claire and Jamie Fraser’s saga. The series explores the origins of both protagonists’ families: the romance of Jamie’s parents, Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), in early 18th-century Scotland, and the wartime courtship of Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), during World War I England.​

Major Storylines

The show opens with tragedy and power struggles within Clan MacKenzie after the death of their laird, setting the stage for Ellen MacKenzie’s defiance of clan duties as she falls deeply in love with Brian Fraser, a union both forbidden and fateful. Their storyline intertwines with the political tensions of pre-Jacobite Scotland, featuring familiar names such as Dougal and Colum MacKenzie in their younger years.​

Meanwhile, the secondary narrative in WWI England depicts Henry Beauchamp, a soldier, and Julia Moriston, a codebreaker in a censorship office, whose love blooms amid the devastation of war. Through their exchange of letters, their connection defies social conventions and distance—a mirror to the emotional intensity of Jamie and Claire’s bond in the original series.​

Season 1 Finale and Themes

The season one finale, titled Something Borrowed, brought both storylines to climactic turning points. Ellen and Brian’s attempted escape from their feuding clans ended in a shocking death, leaving their fate uncertain. Simultaneously, Henry and Julia’s storyline took a supernatural turn when they attempted to travel through the ancient stones with baby William—a direct tie to the time-travel mythos of Outlander.​

Style and Reception

Critics praised the series for its lush cinematography, layered performances, and the emotional depth of its parallel love stories. Variety described it as “a remarkable prequel that honors the emotional legacy of Outlander while forging its own identity”. The production’s period authenticity—spanning 18th-century Scotland and wartime England—earned commendation for costumes and historical design.​

Future of the Series

Starz renewed Outlander: Blood of My Blood for a second season even before its premiere, with filming already underway in Scotland. Season 2 is expected to continue exploring both families’ generational legacies and deepen the emerging connections between the Beauchamps and the Frasers, hinting that the two lineages may soon converge across time.​

In essence, Outlander: Blood of My Blood enriches the franchise by tracing love, loyalty, and fate through two centuries, offering viewers a tender, time-twisting reflection on how the past—and the people we come from—shape the very fabric of who we become.

Personal Note: I enjoyed this series very much and looking forward to Season 2. 

My Food For Thought For Today:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1454405872339295/